With

Festivals

Elsewhere

Almost improperly entertaining, this
documentary whodunit spins a tale
of utopian ideals, sexual intrigue
and murderous jealousy – all on
tiny Floreana, one of the Galapagos
Islands. The events it describes were
a media sensation in the 30s, thanks
in large measure to the enthusiastic
on-film cavorting of the story’s
flamboyant femme fatale. Filmmakers
Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (BalletsRusses) have restored a cornucopia
of reportage, archival film and
photography and enlisted top-line
voice talent, including Cate Blanchett,
to explore this bizarre tale anew.
In 1929, German physician Friedrich
Ritter abandoned wife, family and
civilisation to settle on unoccupied
Floreana with Dore Strauch, his patient
and lover. They were followed, to their
displeasure, by another German family.
Not long after, the so-called Baroness
Eloise von Wagner showed up with
her two lovers and threatened to turn
Ritter’s island of glorious isolation into
a tourist resort. Hacienda Paradiso!
When American philanthropist George
Allan Hancock met the Baroness on
one of his frequent research trips to
the Galapagos, she fast became his
most exciting discovery. The stage
was set for her international fame and
a sharp decline in the population of
paradise.
“I’ll spill nothing… A story this well
told deserves to be relished. Goldfine
and Geller pace and structure TheGalapagos Affair like the true-crime
tale that it is, its mysteries rich and
involving, its characters enduring in
the imagination long after the film has
ended.” — Alan Scherstuhl, VillageVoice

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